Dog Eat Dog
by E. Limberg
Summary: The CSIs are contestants on the game show Dog Eat Dog. Kind of confusing if you've never seen the show. Hints of MS and DL.


**Dog Eat Dog**

"Welcome to Dog Eat Dog. We've got a special show for you today. Our contestants all work for the Crime Scene Unit of the NYPD. Let's meet them now," host Brooke Burns says, wearing her usual all black attire. "Starting on the left, we have homicide Detective Don Flack, thirty-two, who comes from a long line of cops in his family. Next to him is Lindsay Monroe, thirty-three, who grew up in Montana and moved to New York for the CSI job. Sheldon Hawkes is on her left. This thirty-seven year old worked as a surgeon before transferring to the NYC morgue to perform autopsies. Danny Messer, thirty-four, grew up in the Bronx and can sure fend for himself. Next is Stella Bonasera, thirty-six, the no-nonsense detective who holds the team together. And last we have former Marine Mac Taylor, forty-five, the supervisor of the team. Ready to start?"

"Yeah," the team choruses.

"Our first challenge today is the ladder wheel. Write down the name of the person you want to see take on the wheel," she stands on her platform in the center of the arena patiently as they decide. "Let's reveal your votes. Why don't we start with Mac?"

Mac pushes a button on his podium and a name appears. "Lindsay."

"Flack," Stella says.

"Montana," Danny smirks.

"Mac."

"Danny."

"Lindsay," Don looks at her.

"Why don't we all gang up on the new girl?" Lindsay says sarcastically.

"Let's hear why they chose you. Danny?"

"It's my job to pick on her," he states simply.

"Okay. Don, care to share your reason?" Brooke asks.

"It had to be one of the women. Lindsay's closer to me so I wrote her name down."

"Before we get you ready, let me remind you that if you complete the task, you can send one of the guys to the dog pound in your place. Ready?"

"You're going down, Danny," Lindsay threatens before going over to get in a harness and is lifted up to the wheel.

"When I say go, you have two minutes to climb around the outside of the wheel. To win, you must pull the red flag on the bottom off before time runs out. Give me a thumbs up when you're ready," Brooke gives her the directions. Lindsay pulls a hand from one of the ladder rungs to give her a thumbs up. "Put two minutes on the clock. Ready… go."

Quickly she begins to climb to the top of the suspended wheel. As she starts the descent down the side opposite the one she started on, she discovers the thing that makes this difficult: she couldn't climb down head first and would, therefore, have to find a way to turn herself around. Her brain goes a million miles a minute to find a solution while the timer reaches a minute left.

"Come on, Lindsay. Don't give up," she hears Brooke yelling. Faintly she can also hear Stella yelling words of support to her.

Finally Lindsay realizes she has to do a flip over herself so her feet would end up below her head and then do the monkey bars to the flag. As she flips over, her hands, sweaty from being clenched around ladder rungs, slip. With thirty-five seconds left, she falls off and loses.

A little upset with herself, she walks back over to Brooke after she is unstraped. "Nice try. What happened?"

"My hands were too sweaty and slipped off. It happens," Lindsay shrugs.

"I'm sorry to say you're the first one in the dog pound. But don't forget you can still get part of the money in the final round," Brooke, always supportive, gives her a small hug before sending her to the dog pound and going back to her platform. "Ready for the next challenge?" The team nods. "Our next contestant will be playing darts, but not just any old way. For each dart, an item of clothing must be taken off. Please vote now." A minute later, she says, "Time to reveal the loser. Don, we'll start with you."

"Obviously I chose Stella."

"Hawkes?"

"Mac."

"Hawkes," Danny says.

"Hawkes," Stella votes for as well.

"Stella," Mac avoids looking at her.

"Mac Taylor!" she hits his arm.

"We have a tie. In the event of a tie, the player last sent to the dog pound gets to choose. Lindsay, who will it be?" Brooke turns to her.

"Nothing against you, Stel, but I'd rather see Hawkes naked. Plus I need his vast knowledge of random things over here with me so I can get some money."

"Sheldon, are you ready to play strip darts?"

"No," he admits, making the others laugh, "but I have no choice."

Brooke and Hawkes make their way to another set up. "In order to get a dart, you must give me an item of clothing. Before you run out of clothes, you have to score fifty points. If you don't do this or at any point you don't want to continue, you will join Lindsay in the dog pound. Ready?"

"Let's get this over with."

"What will it be first?"

He pulls a shoe off and holds it out to her, taking the dart from her. Carefully he lines himself up before throwing the dart.

"Five points. Still plenty of opportunities to reach the goal." Brooke accepts the sock from him, holding it as far away from her as possible, and hands him a second dart. "You can do this."

Again, Hawkes positions himself before throwing the dart. This time it is a bull's eye, twenty more points.

"If you do that again, the girls might be disappointed."

"Including you."

"I'm not going there. What will your next item be?"

He gives her another shoe. A little too overconfident with himself, he doesn't take the time to position his body before throwing the dart. As a result, the dart lands in the gray area, earning him no points. Upset, Sheldon hangs his head in shame.

"What was that?"

"Nothing."

"What happened there? You get twenty one throw and none the next."

"I rushed."

"Well, you still have twenty-five points. Going on?" He nods and gives her his other sock. "Take your time on this one."

Like the first two times, he lines himself up again. His patience and extra time to prepare rewards him with an additional ten points to give him a thirty-five. Sighing, Hawkes gives in to the cheers of the women in the audience and keeps going. He pulls his shirt over his head to reveal his chest. "Happy?"

Brooke smiles, "You must work out."

"Almost everyday," he accepts the dart she gives him. This time he gets five points, leaving him two clothing items to score ten more points.

"Not many choices left. What'll it be now?"

"Come on, Hawkes. Take it off," Stella yells, the other women also cheering.

He turns around to face her, trying to put a threatening look on his face. "Shut up, Bonasera, or you'll be sitting by Lindsay in a second." As he takes his pants off, the applause starts again.

"Before you throw this, will you go on if you don't make it or go to the dog pound?" Brooke asks, not yet giving him the dart.

"I can't go on after this. What'll my family think?"

"Good luck then."

Carefully taking aim, he throws the dart. Another bull's eye. He had won.

"You know what happens now. Are you sending Stella or Danny to the dog pound in you place?"

"Danny, go join your girlfriend," Sheldon says, taking his clothes back from Brooke.

"Why Danny?"

"He's more of a threat to me than Stella. She's strong, but compared to the guys, she's weak. Now mentally, she might have me there. But I know more useless information than she does."

"Sorry, Danny. You get to go to the dog pound. See you!" The two rejoin the rest of the group. "It's time to reveal our next challenge. One of you will have to walk across that balance beam," she gestures to the pool, "wearing three inch high heels. Please vote now."

After they vote, she says, "Let's reveal the loser. Mac, who did you vote for?"

"Don."

"Flack."

"Mac," Hawkes votes for him a third time.

"Sheldon."

"Stella, why did you pick Don?" Brooke asks.

"I think Mac and Hawkes have better balance them him, at least not in heels. It would be funny to watch them all try to do it though."

"Mac?"

"He's always got five girlfriends; we'll see how much they've taught him."

"Alright, Don, let's get you ready. Your goal is to walk across our balance beam and unhook the first flag tied to the net before making your way back across. Then you must go back and get the second flag. You have three minutes to complete this. You may fall off the balance beam, but if you do so more than three times, the game will stop and you lose. Got it?" she explains as the shoes are put on his feet after he got into his swimsuit.

"Think so," Flack stands, almost falling as they help him onto the end of the balance beam.

"Give me a thumbs up if you're ready." He holds out his thumb. "Let's put three minutes on the clock. Ready… go."

Don, overconfident, starts off quickly, and within the first five steps, he falls off into the pool.

"Stop the clock," Brooke instructs, waiting for him to climb out. "Slow down there. Got to get used to the shoes first. Ready?"

He nods, wiping his eyes off as he steps back onto the end, ready to go again. "I'm good."

"You still have two minutes and fifty-six seconds left; you can do it. Set… go."

Slower than before, he begins making his way across the beam. Just shy of halfway to the other side, his foot slips and his arms flail through the air, trying to help him regain his balance. Somehow he manages to and continues on. Almost able to reach out and touch the flags, Don, for a second time, slips. This time he can't save himself and goes falling into the water again.

"What happened that time?" she asks after he goes back to his starting position.

"I don't know," he shrugs. "These things are hard to walk in."

"One minute and forty-three seconds left. Don't give up. Ready for another try?"

"Yeah."

"Go."

This time he makes it all the way across and gets the flag before turning back around. At approximately halfway across his journey back, he only has a minute left. This causes him to start rushing, though luckily he gets the first flag to the person before falling in a third time.

"One more chance, Don. I know you can still do this," Brooke supports. "Ready… go."

At the end of the last thirty-nine seconds, he has managed to grab the flag but can't return with it.

"Don, you gave this your best shot but you're just not meant to wear heels."

"It got easier towards the end. I feel sorry for all you women who wear those shoes. How can you stand something so uncomfortable?" Flack is relieved to finally take the shoes off.

"I'm sorry, but you have to go to the dog pound. See you," she teasingly pushes him in the right direction. "We're down to the last three contestants. Our next challenge is the pendulum swing. Pick the person you think can't make a complete rotation using their own body weight to move the swing. Vote now." When everyone has locked their answer in, she says, "Let's reveal the loser. Sheldon?"

"Stella."

"Mac."

"Stella."

"Looks like the guys ganged up on you. Sheldon, why Stella?"

"She's… smaller, not as strong as Mac is. And definitely doesn't weigh as much, meaning it'd be harder for her to get all the way around."

"Think you can do it?" Brooke asks.

"Yeah."

While she gets strapped in, Brooke gives her the details. "In three minutes, you have to make a complete flip on the swing. If you don't, you go to the dog pound. Ready?"

"Sure I won't fall out?" Stella asks nervously.

"Positive. Put three minutes on the clock. Set… go."

She begins to move the large swing, getting it to a ninety degree angle with the stand in fifty-five seconds. Now it gets harder to go any higher, but somehow she manages to find the energy to slowly creep closer to a full one hundred eighty degrees.

"You can do it, Stella. A minute and a half to go; still plenty of time left," Brooke yells up to her.

"Come on, Stel," Danny yells from his seat in the dog pound. "Send Hawkes over when you win this one so we have Mr. Know-It-All on our side. Mac will beat you in the last round, but we'll get the money."

After falling back a little, she makes a come back to where she was before with a minute still left. _Just a tad higher, _she tells herself, swinging forward again. The next time she reaches one-eighty, holding on for dear life, afraid of falling off while upside down. Using all her strength the next swing forward, Stella finally makes it a full three hundred sixty degrees.

Worn out, she waits until the swing slows and they unfasten her before making her choice. "I want to go against Mac the final challenge. Sorry, Hawkes."

"Why Hawkes?" Brooke puts an arm around her.

"I'll lose against either of them in the finals. If Sheldon's over there, I know we'll get one question right in the dog pound. And Mac doesn't need the money; he makes more than us."

"See you later, Sheldon. Mac, please join us here. You two will go head-to-head next for the title of Top Dog. In the tank, we have a rock wall, one side for Stella to climb and one for Mac. You each must climb to the top of your side and hit the button to open the box at the bottom. Jump down, grab the key from the box, and climb back up. Unlock the box on top to release the water onto your opponent. First person to do this wins. Why don't you get into your bathing suits and swim over to your side of the wall?"

As they shed their clothes to reveal their swimsuits underneath, they avoid looking at each other, trying to hide the obvious attraction they had to each other that everyone but themselves seemed to realize already. When they finally look up at each other after undressing, both are frozen in place. Stella, having seen Mac shirtless before, recovers quicker than Mac does, who hadn't seen her like this ever.

"Into the water," Brooke tries to stop the tension between them.

Mac dives right in while Stella carefully sticks a toe in to check the temperature before sitting on the edge, legs dangling in. He thinks about swimming back to the edge and pulling her in by her feet but figures he better not in case she were to fall back and likely hit her head. Instead, he picks his side of the glass wall while she slips in and swims to the other.

"Ready?" the blonde woman asks. Both nod. "Go."

Mac, from his years as a Marine, has an advantage and takes the lead, not paying attention to his opponent. About halfway up when he pauses for a second, he catches a glimpse of her, her head about where his knees are. Being a guy, he also notices he can see down her bikini top. Quickly he shakes his head, attempting to focus on the game again. As good as he was at hiding his feelings for her in the lab, seeing her practically naked makes it hard for him to keep his feelings hidden.

When she catches up to her partner three-fourths of the way up the rock wall for the first time, Stella knows something is up. He is either out of shape from his Marine days, although he didn't look it, or something was distracting him. Continuing to climb to the top, slightly ahead of him, it finally dawns on her she is the one distracting him when she catches him looking up at her. Smirking evilly, she decides to use this to her advantage, should he get ahead of her again.

Stella reaches the button first and waves to him before pushing off the wall, letting the rope carry her down. Mac, longing to watch her again, rushes to hit the button and get to the bottom, only to start climbing again after grabbing the key. Halfway up, he catches up to her before pulling ahead. Knowing he'll fall into her trap, she makes sure he can see her from above.

Mesmerized by her, he guides himself with his hands, managing to make it successfully to the top without realizing it. His head hits the water storage container, giving her a chance to catch up while he rubs the back of his head.

Triumphantly she grins, placing her key in the lock and turning it. Water pummels him as he hangs his head in defeat, mad for letting her get the best of him.

Both jump down, swimming to the edge of the pool and climbing out. Towels are handed to them as Brooke approaches them. "Nice job, Stella. This is the first battle of the sexes head-to-head challenge we've ever head. And now we obviously know women are better." A chorus of cheering and booing comes from the audience. "Mac, I think everyone expected you to win. What happened?"

"Her," he points to Stella. "If she weren't so damn beautiful, I could have been able to concentrate. Plus the fact that she's in a bikini and wet."

"Mac Taylor, how dare you look at me like that!" Stella pushes him back into the water. Having gotten her revenge, she makes the mistake of offering him her hand to help him out. Mac pulls her in, getting his revenge. As she resurfaces, he surprises her by kissing her on the lips.

"Alright, break it up you two," Brooke teases. The couple gets out again, dries off, and dresses. "Well, Mac, you're the last to join the dog pound. See you. Ready for the final round?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to reveal a category to you; pick the person you think can't answer a question pertaining to that category. If they get it right, the dog pound gets a point; if not, you get a point. First to three points wins. Let's reveal the first category: history. Who do you want to answer this question?"

"Danny. I'd say Flack but there's probably a science question for him to answer at some point."

"Danny, please stand. Your question is: who was the first US president to be impeached?"

Before answering, Danny takes a second to rethink it. "Johnson."

"The correct answer is Johnson. Dog pound gets a point. The next category is science," Brooke says.

"Don, you're the only one who isn't a scientist."

"Your question is: besides adenine and thymine, what other DNA base pair is there?"

After a minute of thinking, Flack gives in. "I have no idea."

"The correct answer is guanine and cytosine. One point for Stella. Our next category is television."

"I'm going to go with Hawkes," Stella chooses.

"What actress plays the lead female role of Olivia Benson on Law and Order: SVU?"

"I know it; it's just not coming to me," Sheldon stands for a couple more minutes without coming up with a name. "Don't know. Marg Helgenberger?"

"The correct answer is Mariska Hargitay. You need one more point to win, Stella. Choose carefully. The next category is geography."

"Lindsay."

"Why Lindsay?"

"Mac was in the Marines so he's probably traveled more than she has."

"Your question is: what mountain range runs along the northern border of Italy?"

"The Alps," she says with no hesitation.

"The correct answer is the Alps. We have one last question to decide it. Mac, your category is technology. Ready?"

"Yes."

"Apple produces iPods, TVs, and what brand of computers?"

Mac frowns, knowing absolutely nothing about computer companies. To be truthful, he didn't know much about operating a computer either, just how to do what he needed to for work. "Enjoy the money, Stel."

"They're the kind of computers you use in the lab; how do you not know this?" Flack asks, upset.

"Thanks, Mac," Stella smiles.

"The correct answer… is Mac. You just won twenty-five thousand dollars; what do you plan to do with it?"

"Ten thousand I think I'll give to the lab for equipment and stuff. The rest I plan to use to go to Greece and Italy, maybe take a friend with me."

"And who might this friend be?"

"Mac."

He comes over to join her on the stage and kisses her as the others cheer, happy what is meant to be is finally happening. "Stella, I love you."

"I love you too, Mac. Have since I met you."

"You've got the check. Let's get out of here before they can call us back in to work."

**A/N: Kind of confusing if you haven't seen the show, I guess. I have no idea where this story came from. Anyway, my mom has no idea what to get me for my birthday. Actually, no one knows. So I think I'm going to tell her I want the NY DVDs. Normally there's lots of new copies on ebay that you can buy without having to wait and bid. I just looked on there, and there's like none on there anymore. Walmart didn't have anything, Target has the regular CSI and Miami ones, or some of them at least, but no NY. Then I looked on CBS and they're like seventy dollars. So finally I went to Best Buy; the first season is forty-five and the second is fifty-five. So maybe my mom could get one and grandma the other. Then I have to come up with stuff for my two friends to get me. We have like no one coming (it's a family party for my brother's and my birthdays) except the one grandma, possibly my two cousins, and maybe the other grandparents, but they haven't decided yet because it's grandpa's birthday then too. My mom told us we could invite a coupld friends so... I still have to ask them. No more school finally. I just finished typing my next story. The first chapter should be posted Friday or Saturday sometime. Okay, well... tell me what you thought of this.**


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